Is it May or September?

Ask German students when Labor Day is celebrated in Germany and you will probably get a blank stare.  Students in China would most likely not be able to provide an answer either.  But wait, isn't Labor Day a public holiday in many countries around the world?  Yes, but when in Mexico you need to rephrase the question and instead ask, "When is May Day?"; which is kind of like asking, "When is cinco de mayo?".  In most countries the celebration of workers and that of spring coincide on May 1.  

So, why does the United States celebrate its workers and the end of summer the first weekend in September?  Yep, you guessed it!  To add a federal holiday to fill that long gap in between Independence Day and Thanksgiving!  The first Labor Day was back in 1882 and became a federal holiday in 1894.  A particular generation in the US is probably wondering why we are back in school at this point anyway, right?  Back in the day summer vacation across the nation was traditionally from Memorial Day to Labor Day.  But did you know that there was a time in the early 1800's when schools in the US started to form that there was no summer vacation!  What?!  Read more about the past and present of the first day of school at:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/04/living/school-start-dates-august-parents-feat/

Display...

...an arrangement of things for people to look at...and in the World Language hallways of NCHS there are many things on display.  So, come take a look!

Plaques recognizing student and teacher achievements and the 5 Cs of language learning!

Canvas photo prints of student travels and our Lilly Teacher Creativity Grant winners!

Colorful and artistic posters representing the languages we teach and the countries where they are spoken!

Your Window To The World!

So excited for parents and guests to see our 2016-17 display case titled, "Your Window to the World" at the Monday, August 22 NCHS Back to School Night.  In the display case you will see the smiling faces of all 18 NCHS World Language teachers in the middle of a colorful flower!  The backdrop of the display is a window with curtains, flowers, vines, leaves and butterflies!  We are looking forward to an amazing school year with all of our 2, 395 Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Japanese, Latin and Spanish students!

NCHS World Language Enrollment 2016-2017

3,537 = NCHS Student Population

68% of NCHS STUDENTS

STUDY A WORLD LANGUAGE!

2,395 = NCHS Students Enrolled in World Languages 

Milites + Guerre = Learning!

• war commentaries of Julius Caesar
• colored paper doll Roman soldiers
• colored paper doll ancient Gallic soldiers
• paper doll war between the French and Latin students

This year's reenactment is taking it to another level!  

• Starting Monday, February 8th there will be a map attached with magnets to a dry erase board in the World Language office.  Ten magnets representing Gallic troops will be placed in the northwest corner of Gaul, and ten representing Roman troops will be placed at the Gaul/Italy border. 
•  French 3/4 classes and Latin 3/4 classes will take a few minutes each day to go to the map and roll a die to determine how far troops get to move.  The die cast is to determine miles, but in order to make the move, students must answer questions written by upper level students.  Answer correctly and move the distance.  Answer incorrectly and stay where you are.  
• When forces get within range, the game changes.  The die cast then determines the number of enemy troops lost in a battle, but again, this only works if students answer questions correctly.  
• The losing general, (General Reid or General Perkins), will have to wear a garment from the other side (Latin Club shirt General Reid, French Club shirt for General Perkins), have pictures taken, and suffer the humiliation of defeat.

Elements of both chance and skill have been incorported, just as are present in actual warfare.  Upper level students will remember the experience from their level II French or Latin class and therefore understand their involvement in creating the questions.

Thanks to Jill Reid and Steve Perkins for sharing their wonderful creation!!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallic_Wars

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Caesar/Gallic_War/Appendices/A*.html

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/cross-curricular-teaching-deeper-learning-ben-johnson

https://prezi.com/kycxsmbcs_wi/cross-curricular-collaborative-work/

Are you a "Pinterest" Teacher??

Pinterest...it "helps people discover the things they want to plan, buy and do"; and I have found it to be the perfect tool for lesson planning, lesson buying and lesson doing! 

When I first created my Pinterest account it was all about the fun stuff - cute pug pictures, decorating tips, recipes...And then this past summer I had a revelation...why not create a board for each of the chapter themes I cover in my Spanish 3/4 classes?!  

And WOW...what an amazing resource!  Since pins work like bookmarks I now have quick links to tons of amazing resources related to my curriculum!  Other teachers on Pinterest can follow my boards and benefit from those resources instantaneously!  Because Pinterest offers so many ways to search for "stuff" the possibilities are endless!

Want to learn more about Pinterest:  

https://business.pinterest.com/en/whats-pinterest

You can find me on Pinterest at:

www.pinterest.com/tootsuncommon

TeachersPayTeachers

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/

Founded in 2006, Teachers Pay Teachers has over 1,600,000 million users! If you have not experienced Teachers pay Teachers you are in for a great surprise...It is an online open marketplace to sell, buy, and share original, teacher created materials in all kinds of formats!  

Teachers can buy and sell on Teachers Pay Teachers and I am pleased to announce that I have moved to the ranks of seller on Teachers Pay Teachers.  My store name is Obras "Maestras" and I hope to upload my first item for purchase by September 11th!  

All Aboard!

Yep!  It's that time of year again!  And nothing reminds us of that better in Indianapolis than the Indiana State Fair Train! 

 http://www.in.gov/statefair/fair/tickets/fair_train.html

 Students entered our schools over a week ago eager to start their Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Japanese, Latin, and Spanish classes.  Yes, at North Central High School 65% of the students are enrolled in at least one of those seven world languages!  And here is what they saw in the Japanese classroom...the sentence train - handmade by a student and teacher assistant over the summer!

Here's hoping this amazing visual sparks some creative ideas for those out there who are still enjoying the last few days of summer vacation!  We'd love it if you shared any variations, adaptations, etc...of the Japanese Sentence Train!  All Aboard!